Brookings K-12 public school students will join their SDSU role models in going to class wearing masks. Brookings is also delaying its first day of school ten days, from August 21 (a Friday? really?) to Monday, August 31. But Brookings is copying the bad parts of the Aberdeen plan, forcing parents to decide this week whether to send their kids to regular-schedule face-to-face instruction or lock in to a full semester of online courses:
The Brookings School Board unanimously approved a plan Thursday to start the school year Aug. 31 with face-to-face instruction five days a week for all grade levels.
Face masks will be mandatory for students, staff and visitors, with physical distancing and hand washing/sanitizing efforts in place.
According to the plan, parents have until Aug. 7 to decide, via a survey from the district, if they would prefer to have their children learn remotely from home. Those choosing to opt out of in-school instruction will not be able to opt back into class until the start of the next semester [Matthew Rhodes, “Students to Start Classes Aug. 31, Five Days a Week; Masks Required,” Brookings Register, 2020.07.31].
The Brookings School Board is following the wishes of parents, not teachers:
[Superintendent Klint] Willert referred to a survey completed by 1,486 parents and 267 staff, including a series of questions about how they felt about certain proposed measures.
When asked about face-to-face learning, 59% of parents said they would prefer their children to be in the school buildings, whereas only 33% of teachers said they would prefer students to come back. Roughly 54% of teachers preferred the hybrid approach to teaching.
When asked if they would prefer remote learning, 86% of parents who took the survey said “no” [Rhodes, 2020.07.31].
Hey, I’d prefer face-to-face classroom learning, too, but that’s just not practical or safe right now. Teachers represented by the Brookings Education Association feel the same way:
Brookings Education Association President Adam Juba said the group is concerned about implementing a face-to-face start to the year.
“Educators want to be back in the classroom with their students, but teachers and staff have serious concerns about the health and safety of their students, fellow staff members and the community as a whole if our district starts the year with a return to traditional learning,” Juba said.
He said the association would prefer a hybrid model due to the impracticality and impossibility of having students in school and adhering to safe COVID-19 standards recommended by the CDC [Rhodes, 2020.07.31].
Standing out among the community members at the Brookings school board meeting is Dr. Jennifer Olson, a Sanford Health employee who appears to be the only person at the meeting refusing to wear a mask and whose coronavirus quashery will likely get her an invitation to an appearance on Fox News from Governor Kristi Noem’s private video studio:
Local physician Dr. Jennifer Olson said, for minimal risk, maybe officials were going too far, scaring the community and setting a bad precedent with some of the measures they’re taking. COVID-19 has a death rate in the United States of 0.045%, and the average age of those who die from the virus is 78 years old, Olson said.
“A coronavirus is just a family of virus. It’s got a new name and is on the news every day, but in terms of the biology of what it is, that is nothing new. We see coronaviruses and influenza viruses come and go from this community every season.”
“What I would question the community is,” Olson said, “‘What are we afraid of?’ We are afraid of a virus that we’re hearing about and seeing all of these reminders of. But when you take the masks and the plexiglass and all the social distancing things away, are we really seeing the impact of this virus? … We do not do this for any other illness,” she said of asking healthy people to stay home and wear masks [Rhodes, 2020.07.31].
Um, Dr. J? Do you really think 155,000 dead in five months is “almost zero risk of significant mortality” (spoken at 1:07:10 in the BSD video)? That’s as many deaths as chronic lower respiratory diseases usually cause in a whole year. That’s nearly twice the national annual death toll from diabetes and more than three times the national annual death toll from suicide. If you don’t think 155,000 deaths is a lot of impact, could it be that we aren’t seeing whatever might count as action-worthy impact in your mind because we are implementing masks and plexiglass and social distancing? And could the relatively lower numbers of coronavirus among children be because we’ve kept them home for much of the pandemic?
By opening ten days later than planned with a mask mandate, the Brookings School District is protecting the health and lives of students, staff, and the community and increasing the chances that we can control the pandemic and get back to somewhat normal, healthy social and economic activity.
Dr. Jenny is a quack. Sanford seems to be promoting the trump virus as a business model. We have no idea how much Sanford was paid to test the Hydroxychloroquine on the folks suffering from the trump virus under their care, but it clearly looks like they like the taste of the money to go against science.
In fact children are major drivers of the trump virus. Keep them home and safe. Send Dr. Jenny to Washington to be Fat Nixon’s doctor, dude needs another quack to tell us that he weighs 230 pounds and is getting taller.
Two new studies, though from different parts of the world, have arrived at the same conclusion: that young children not only transmit SARS-CoV-2 efficiently, but may be major drivers of the pandemic as well.
The first, which was published in JAMA yesterday, reports findings from a pediatric hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The second, a preprint manuscript awaiting peer review, was conducted in the mountainous province of Trento, Italy.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2020/07/31/new-evidence-suggests-young-children-spread-covid-19-more-efficiently-than-adults/?fbclid=IwAR0O1_pDKrj2yP1cy6avrP2WF2lgQxEruDhfBvKxn-YsgYUheEj8YnaGqr8#1acccae819fd
Science rules baby. Science says to get a handle on this trump virus before we keep mucking it up. Do not endanger our children for a buck.
In other comments on the school board meeting video, Dr. Olson says she blames the medical community for, it seems from the context of her remarks, overhyping coronavirus. Has Sanford overhyped the risks of coronavirus? Are Sanford doctors, nurses, and receptionists overhyping the pandemic by making us wear masks when we visit their facilities? Does Dr. Olson, like Governor Noem, actively discourage people from wearing masks?
School boards do the bidding of the voters. That’s the parents. Teachers don’t get a vote. Fat-cat administrators are really calling the shots behind closed doors. This is the reality of it all. The kids are the inmates and the teachers are the indentured guards.
And her gun-loving hubby, Matt, was quoted on Brookings Radio as saying, with an audible snort, that his kids won’t be wearing masks. Gotta love morons. One sad but “good’ thing may happen yet in August: schools which start earlier in other parts of ‘murica will have the inevitable rise in cases in their towns/counties/states, which should inevitably lead to cities like Brookings rethinking their plans and either going back to remote learning (which went fine with my high school not-hyper-ambitious-as-far-as-school-is-concerned kid, after one and only one day of a small bit of grumbling) or to their original plan of 2 days in class for half the kids with remote for the other half, Wednesdays remote for all, then 2 days in class for the other half of the alphabet with remote learning for the MonTues in class bunch. Parents get daily feedback through the magic of the internet on grades and missed assignments. Kids can handle another semester or year of remote; they can’t handle killing grandma.
Can the deplorable guv be sued for negligent and gross stoopidity?
In iowa, Ivanna Kuturnutzov, aka Sinator Joni Ernst, has revived the olde death tax fraud to use against her opponent this fall. They still be saying farms and small businesses had to close or be sold to pay the virtually non-existent penalty for most of American taxpayers.
MFI, I believe Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans are trying to eliminate the very lawsuits you refer to. The party of responsibility wants to ensure that there is NO responsibility for putting public health at risk through negligence.
O-right-on, buttercup!
The Brookings should open up 10 days early. With all the covid and slackardness going on, the kids are going to have to be schooled a lot longer than normal to keep up with the masses. This year will be the year the SILT rises to the top and the best teachers who should keep their jobs and get paid more will step up.
The GOP likes responsibility and accountability a lot, just not for them and their owners.
Sadly, there’s always a corrupt or ignorant doc that a corrupt and ignorant politician can dig up to support their corrupt and ignorant ideas. (Guess I could have just said “GOP” and saved myself a lot of words.)
I’m a patient at Sanford in Brookings- thank god dr Olson is not my doctor. She sounds like she’s been brainwashed by our stupid governor and even bigger idiot president. Maybe she’ll get a voodoo doctor to cure the virus.
grusznick, your schtick here as South Dakota’s Andy Rooney is tired and unfunny.
Speak for yourself, Joe. Grudz is the only reason I come to this echo chamber.
Does Dr. Olson speak for her employer, Sanford?
o., I don’t think so. Sanford Clinic in Aberdeen has a team at the entrance, all wearing masks, that screens everyone entering and requiring that they wear masks.
I thought Dr. Jennifer Olson was the most realistic person there. She has more knowledge and facts than everyone else there. Of course she wasn’t speaking for Sanford. She was speaking for herself, and her family and to help this blinded community wake up and realized its not that bad out there. I guess I know who is going to be voting for the puppet Biden come fall. I am surprised how many people are buying into this ridiculous narrative of 155,000 people have died from covid. Prove it. Oh But you can’t because all the numbers are false. They are counting deaths that were not covid related deaths as covid to get more numbers to scare the public into believing this is a horrible scary place. So you will go running to uncle government to save you and give you money. You are vampires on the vein of this country, not babies on the tit. I hope you move out of this country when Trump gets reelected. The fact that this is political at all is disgusting. It’s like saying a cancer patient is a casualty of war. Walk up. All the numbers are fixed. There are so many lies on top of lies to cover lies. Do you teach your children to lie too?
But of course you would think that Gracie Lue, no one in their right mind could doubt the funerals. And those folks who’ve died in South Dakota from the trump virus, they really didn’t. Seek help please, you’re delusional.
Gracie Lue, how many do you think have died from the Covid in the United States? BTW, there is a war on cancer with casualties, so ya got that right http://thewaroncancer.org/
They meat packing plant in Sioux Falls is hiring essential workers, that would be a good place to start to see if there is any truth to the answers you seek. Do keep us informed.
Do you now or have you dated Mr. grudznick or Mr. Evans?
I especially like your last question, Jerry. 🤣 🤣 🤣
The fact that there are people like Ms. Frebusch is really the biggest issue this country and much of the world has.
The great depths of lying wasn’t invented by Liar-in-Chief. He has perhaps perfected it. The creation of an alternative reality by Murdoch, Sinclair, the GOP and their filthy owners has done enormous damage and may take more than a generation to cure.
For anyone who needs to check on the Covid-19 death certificates, here are sources, one from the CDC and one from John Hopkins University:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/covid-19.htm
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu
Great links Dr. Newquist. Here in South Dakota the party of duh has now released this for us to peruse. See if any can spot the bullpuckey logic in this. If this holds true then the logic would be that no testing brings no cases. How about that for solving the pandemic.
“Lower testing numbers brought fewer new cases of coronavirus in South Dakota on Tuesday. The state reported 59 new cases on 733 tests — an 8 percent positive rate.
A Codington County man over 80 became the 136th death in the state. There have been 68 men and 68 women who have died from COVID-19 illnesses in South Dakota. There are 42 people in the hospital across the state — up three from Monday’s report.”
Rapid City Journal 8.4.20
Gracie Lue Frebusch2020-08-04 at 07:07
I think this is probably drumpf hizownself pretending to be a female know it all, which gives him away. Because, just like drumpf, there is not a single shred of evidence to back any of her/his exaggerated claims of what death is covid related and which is not.
drumpf body count up to date….
United States
Coronavirus Cases:
4,908,460
Deaths:
159,999
Care to breakdown the deaths in categories drumpf/Gracie Lue?
Gracie Lue- 80,000 infections in La Paz Bolivia. People dying in cars turned away from hospitals. PART OF THE WORD IS CONSPIRACY, not “narrative”. Patiently awaiting your retraction of your attack here of the “ridiculous 256,000 USA deaths” conspiracy so we Democrats can get free money. dwnews 3pm. (Just after news of nuclear looking explosion in the Port of Lebanon.)
Aren’t u lucky (white privilege) to be living in SD?
Gracie Lue Frebusch 2020-08-04 at 07:07
“The fact that this is political at all is disgusting.” Agreed, however we part ways on who has the facts and who is doing the politicizing. Let us not confuse “politicizing” with appropriately attributing accountability for leaders doing poor or counterproductive things on this issue.
You pivot this to a political issue by pivoting to Vice President Biden: “. . . voting for the puppet Biden come fall.” Whose puppet is Vice President Biden? I really do not think a supporter of President Trump should be using the term “puppet” as a pejorative — not given the relationship this President has with President Putin or Wall Street for that matter.
” . . . to help this blinded community wake up and realized its not that bad out there.” Is not the point of caution, especially by school districts who will be dealing with SO many in our communities both in scope and span to try to keep things “OK out there?” What keeps things OK during a pandemic are steps to prevent/eliminate spread. Are you taking the position that there can be no spread — no matter how much we decide to throw caution to the wind? Again I would ask what is the risk and what is the cost to avoid the risk: is waning a mask that obtrusive; isn’t the hazard of infection FAR in excess of that minor inconvenience? Worst of all, recklessness now does not only endanger you, it endangers all around you as well.
If you choose to our of hand dismiss all data, then you are also correct: I cannot prove anything to your closed mind. At the same time, you toss out many assertions with no proof (or worse yet assertions that have been refuted by data).
Finally, “So you will go running to uncle government to save you and give you money. You are vampires on the vein of this country.” Any day of the week I am willing to compare who has taken the lion’s share of Government money so far in this crisis — the wealthy Trump cronies, or the unemployed workers put out on the street by this crisis. Somehow I should be as concerned by the “death” of businesses (a foolish use of the term “death”) as I should be as concerned for the actual death of people? Your line of thinking is again a view of the United States as a business — not a society; something I believe we need to reject on face.